If you did not notice, Finland won world championship in ice hockey. For Americans, ice hockey world championships is not the NHL – it is an annual cup ran by IIHF ( http://www.iihf.com ) held about the same time as NHL playoffs. For us Europeans ice hockey world championships is a big thing, and for us Finns winning it is really big thing.

Team Finland did beat Team Sweden 6 to 1 in really close match, which lasted 2 periods – before it turned into one sided slaughter in the third period. 1995 was the first time Finland won the world championships, then beating team Sweden 4-1. It took 16 years and people have been remembering Globel, ”Den glider in”, 1995 and 4-1 ever since. Now it should be all over. It is 2011 and 6-1!

All around Helsinki you could see billboards celebrating Team Finland. Here on the wall of Stockmann’s department store:

And here at the UPM head office’s wall:

People went to the streets to celebrate the team, which peaked at the city center — at the Market Square celebration. Before the party you could see people everywhere. Helsinki city center was packed.

Like I said.

Lots of people. Whole families with children and elderly people.

Fans were behaving amazingly well and as we strolled among the crowds we did see only a few overly intoxicated fans stumbling over themselves.

Compared to how intoxicated some members of the team were, fans behaved amazingly well: